


Logic and Trickster - Act 9

by Logic_and_Trickster



Series: The Phantom Thieves Meet Phoenix Wright - Logic and Trickster [10]
Category: Persona 5, 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney
Genre: Crossover, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:15:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26481034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Logic_and_Trickster/pseuds/Logic_and_Trickster
Summary: Be sure and follow the project on Twitter for updates!https://twitter.com/logic_and_trickThough the Phantom Thieves have seemingly made it out of the dangerous Facade, they quickly realize that not all of them are accounted for. While Joker and his party were ambushed in the warehouse above, the rest of the crew had been waiting at the Mona Bus in an underground parking garage. As we step back a few minutes in time from a different perspective, will we discover what exactly happened down there?As the mental and emotional journeys of many characters continue to press onward, we may come to some shocking realizations and the manifestation of unseen potentials. The tense moments and mysteries shall all come to a head as more and more is discovered about the Metaverse by those who have infiltrated it. The moments we've all been waiting for are soon at hand. The enemies in this Facade better watch out... the show has only just begun.
Series: The Phantom Thieves Meet Phoenix Wright - Logic and Trickster [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1612450
Comments: 26
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter 9-1: Powerful Enemies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team down in the parking garage share a few moments of opening their hearts to one another at the behest of Ghost expressing her frustrations with her lack of contributions to the team. With experience comes wisdom, however; Panther and Fox have more than a few words of advice for their new teammates, and an encouraging pep talk may very well get the team back into high spirits.
> 
> The sudden appearance of shadow soldiers as well as a particularly strong shadow unfortunately prematurely ends their conversations as the underground parking garage quickly becomes the site of a dangerous shoot-out for Panther and a life-or-death sword duel for Fox. With more and more shadows piling in to surround them, will the Phantom Thieves be able to hold out until Samurai can come up with an escape plan?

__

_Fifteen Minutes Earlier..._

_April 13th, 4:45 pm_

_Fort Kaz, South Area Underground, Parking Garage_

\---Music:[ Suspicion (P5)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_cAs1sD5-8)\---

" _Nuclear?!?_ " Ninja questions frantically, "You guys fight using _NUCLEAR_ attacks?!?"

"Isn't that, like… dangerous, pals?" Jackpot scratches his head.

"Hmm…" Fox ponders, "I suppose we never thought about it like that."

"I'm too young to get radiation poisoning!" Ghost remarks in fear.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it!" Mona insists, "I doubt that nuclear energy in the Metaverse would have the exact same complex radioactive properties as in the real world. Unless you were in a palace or a cognition belonging to a nuclear physicist or something."

"I could buy that," Hawkshaw nods in understanding, "Anyone can imagine a big explosion, but I doubt the cognition of the average person could understand and replicate something as intricate as radiation on a molecular level…"

Panther tries to word it more simply. "You can more or less consider the nuclear element to just be a shorthand term to refer to really big, explodey energy attacks! So it's no worse than flames or electricity. Just stay out of the line of fire and you'll be fine."

Samurai is actually taking notes in a booklet, and seems very focused on the discussion at hand. "Fascinating. Cognition truly is everything in this world," he comments, before closing the notebook vertically and putting it away. "I believe I understand the ins and outs of survival in the Metaverse. Did everyone else follow Mona's explanations?"

"I've got the basic ideas down," I answer, "And I'm sure I'll pick up the finer details along the way by watching the Phantom Thieves in action."

"I think I've got all the elements memorized!" Kay excitedly boasts, "With all of these strengths and weaknesses, I'll just think of things as if we were in an RPG!"

"How charming," Fox smiles warmly, "Imagine that. Us, inside of an RPG. I can picture it now."

"Hmm," I shrug, "Personally, I just can't imagine myself being in a video game."

"But just remember," Mona cautions us, "None of you newbies are to leave the bus at all, alright? I'm glad you're all curious about how we do things as Phantom Thieves, but simply understanding how the Metaverse works doesn't make it any less dangerous."

"Understood," Hawkshaw confirms, "It's better that way. To be honest, I'm just hoping we can get through this mess without any fights."

\---Music: [ Confession Secret ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ED7kzAmnAY)\---

Ghost seems to be a bit bothered. "Hey, are you doing ok?" I ask her subtly, not drawing any attention to us as I start a side conversation.

"It's frustrating" she answers, "It just seems like we're dead weight here. I hate always feeling like I'm on the sidelines!"

I understand where she's coming from. "It's only natural we leave all of the intense stuff to the professionals with experience. The rest of us are here for different reasons. I know that everyone can contribute something in their own way."

"It sure doesn't feel like it!" she sighs, "I'm only here because I'm supposed to be some sort of magical radar to detect wherever this contract is, but I don't have the slightest clue where to start looking!"

"I mean, we just got here," I reason, "This is a totally new experience, it will probably take getting used to."

"It's just… I always feel like I'm not helping anyone," she conveys to me sadly, "Whenever things get bad, there's never anything I can do about it. I'm always calling on my sister for help to get us out of trouble, too. I want to be… I want to be dependable just like she is!"

"You should allow yourself more credit," Samurai encourages, entering the conversation too. "I don't think any of us will ever forget how much you helped when the two of you faced Von Karma. If you hadn't held on to that last piece of evidence, the true culprit never would have been convicted, and I would no doubt be in prison."

"Thanks, Mr. Samurai…" Ghost nods, but she still seems sullen. "It's just that I'm usually the one BEING saved. I've been accused of murder like, three or four times already! I'm never the one helping, I'm always the one needing help… and whenever bad things go down, Knight or my sister always come to bail me out. "

I place my hand on her shoulder, and her expression warms up just slightly as we look at one another. "That's because I know without a shadow of a doubt that you can and will do the same for me if I'm ever in trouble," I explain to her with a smile.

"I hope I'm not interrupting. Mind if I pass on some advice, Ghost?" Panther speaks up.

"What's up?" Ghost asks.

"It majorly sucks feeling like you're helpless to your friends. I know, and I've been there. One of my best friends in the whole world almost died because I wasn't strong enough to stand up for her when she needed it. And I will admit, it was important for me to find that strength in myself to help those I love. But as I did more and more as a Phantom Thief with the others, I came to realize that even strong people can't do everything on their own. Even Joker, our leader, knows we all specialize in certain things, and have different strengths than one another. If we need a door kicked down, you better believe Skull is the guy for the job. And we would have gotten hopelessly lost within the palaces if Mona hadn't been making maps for our infiltrations!"

"You flatter me, Panther! Mrrreow~!" Mona purs affectionately.

Ann giggles. "We always view ourselves and judge ourselves from the perspective of having strengths and weaknesses. But, when we're all working together, we need all of those strengths, no matter who they are coming from. Joker being a great strategist doesn't make me or the rest of the team any worse at fighting shadows, it makes us better! Well, to get to the point of what I'm saying: if a friend has a strength, that doesn't mean it's your weakness. It's almost like it becomes your own strength, and that's what being on a team is all about."

Fox smiles earnestly. "Splendidly worded, Panther. And, if I may add one more thing to this motivational speech. Even if your strengths aren't immediately apparent, just feel confidence in knowing that you will eventually find the things you are perfect for. And when you do find your strengths, they will become the strengths of everyone else here, because you are a part of this team. I think that's far from being helpless, wouldn't you agree?"

\---(Music End)---

"Shhh! Quiet!" Mona whispers in a very subdued tone, "Ninja, put up the hologram back on. No one make a sound…"

\---Music: [ Battle in the Base [Caution] - Metal Gear Solid 3 ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD3wxEcM3Ms)\---

With the bus disguised as a jeep yet again, we're back inside the darkness of the trunk, unable to see what's going on. Mona is the only one who can see what's happening outside… this is not good. Are there soldiers approaching?!

We all wait anxiously, deathly silent. The sudden sound of a loud voice is startling for that reason. "Oh, come ON. Where the hell did I park?! Ugh….." it speaks, with each syllable echoing within the vast, enclosed space.

"C'mon, it clearly wasn't on this floor, doofus," a second voice adds.

"But we already checked the first two floors!"

"Well, what about that one? Over there? It's the only car on this entire floor."

*!*

Oh crap… were we spotted…?

"Dude, that's not my car!" the voice asserts strongly.

"How am I supposed to know what car you drive?!" the second voice returns with a stand-offish tone.

\---(Music Fade Out)---

Though the voices still echo, they seem to become quieter, as if the speakers are moving farther away. "This is seriously crazy. It's like it disappeared!"

"You must have missed it somehow when looking on the floors above, just check again…"

"I'll just ask the lieutenant where he parked, I remember his car was right next to mine."

\---(Music End)---

I'm not sure how many minutes pass, but eventually Mona speaks once more. "Alright. They're gone. I think we're clear, for now."

"Phew," Hawkshaw sighs, "Looks like the disguise worked."

"I'll take it off again, for now, so we can at least see," Ninja speaks up, disabling the hologram.

"That was too close for comfort," Mona chagrins, "We should check back with Joker's team."

Fox takes the initiative to speak into the comm device. "We have a small problem," Fox explains, sounding uneasy.

"There were a few shadows snooping around this floor," Panther adds, "The disguise seemed to work, but I've got a bad feeling now..."

\---Music:[ Tension (P5)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrdMXoqp8Q4) \---

"Uhhh… Joker? Make that TWO problems," I hear one of them say, I think it was Oracle. "I'm picking up shadows on radar headed this way."

"How many?" Joker asks, straight to the point.

"Looks like… fourteen," Oracle answers. 

Fourteen?! Geeze! I hope they'll be alright up there!

"They're moving in what looks like an organized formation…" Oracle continues, "I'd say we have two or three minutes, tops."

"Shit, do they know we're here??!" Skull assumes with frustration.

"Keep your cool, team," Joker commands, "Which direction are they coming from?"

"East!" Oracle answers.

"That's fine, we're heading west anyway. Let's move," Joker rallies. It sounds like he has the situation under control, at least.

\---(Music End)---

I sure hope Joker's team manages to get out of there, and fast. I'd hate for them to get caught. Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly for them...

Oh no… there's another shadow walking down the ramp! No… there's five of them. Five shadow soldiers, all geared up in uniforms and holding weapons. I don't think there's enough time to disguise, because they're looking right at us...

\---Music: [ Hotline of Fate ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZnnFWAzsug)\---

Before I can even open my mouth to warn everyone else, the shadow soldier leading the other four raises his hand out horizontally aimed at us…!! Faster than I can blink, the shadow commands a lightning bolt to crack down, creating an explosive roar of thunder as if a bomb has just gone off! The ground shakes and the lights flicker on and off spastically, and everything in sight turns a deep red. With the shadow's raised hand as a center focal point, rings of crackling electricity expand outwards like ripples in water, all of them heading right for us!!

"Get down, now!!" I hear Hawkshaw yell, and he pushes me and everyone else down to the floor as fast as he can. As low to the ground as we can get, we wait as the electric waves pass right over us. But what about Mona?! "Mona, are you ok?!"

"I'm fine! The attack didn't do any damage to me!" Mona informs us promptly, "Even though I'm… usually weak against electricity…?"

Jackpot starts coughing. It seems that as the attack was coming towards us he instinctively grabbed Ninja and Ghost to shield them as best he could. "Hey, pals… you guys are smoking!" he tries to speak between heavy coughs. It looks like they literally are emitting smoke from their heads, causing Jackpot to choke on the smoke clouds.

"You are too!" Ninja points out in return. Jackpot realizes he actually has smoke coming from his ear as well, and begins to comically freak out.

Oh no… I grab the comm earpiece in my ear and remove it to look at it. Sure enough… it's smoking.

"That wasn't an attack meant to hurt us," Samurai explains grimly, in a calculating tone, "It was meant to disable our communication devices," he continues, tossing his own earpiece away as it's now useless.

"Oh, crud!" Mona emphatically calls, "It was an electromagnetic pulse!"

\---Music: [ Pursuit ~ Questioned (Variation) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAWgCplaZgo)\---

Panther steps up and takes charge with commanding emphasis. "Fox, Jackpot, Hawkshaw! This is all us!" she asserts, clicking ammo into place on the machine gun she carries. 

"I couldn't agree more," Fox nods, taking aim with his own assault rifle. Jackpot and Hawkshaw draw their handguns as well. Those of us unarmed keep our heads low, but high enough to peek out from the windows and see what's happening outside.

Mona rolls down the windows, and our team lets loose a curtain of bullets straight into the group of shadows. Three of them are mowed down instantly, exploding into black mist and evaporating. One of them rolls out of the line of fire, and another charges to the side to try and run around. Panther simply waves her gun in a fanning motion and picks off the one trying to run without much issue. However, the electric shadow leading them doesn't move at all… he draws a sword instead?

*!*

With movements as fast as the bullets themselves, he deflects everything which came at him with minimal effort!! That's insane! Are we in an episode of the Steel Samurai or something?!!

The shadow which rolled takes one knee in an aiming crouch, letting loose two consecutive automatic bursts, each firing a three shot volley. We all get down at this point, and we clearly hear the bullets ricochet off the metal exterior of Mona. "OW!" Mona yipes.

Hawkshaw turns his aim and returns fire, taking that shadow soldier out in retaliation. 

"Mona, are you alright?!" Hawkshaw questions with fear and urgent concern.

"Y-yeah, thanks for asking… I _am_ technically armored in this form, but… that still stung like heck!!! When the heck did shadows start carrying guns?! They never carried guns in any of the palaces we infiltrated in the past!"

"Well, this _is_ a military base… we should have expected as much!" Ninja states nervously.

"That one there appears to be stronger than the others," Samurai grits his teeth.

"Sometimes especially dangerous shadows would appear in palaces, drawn to the distortion of the owner," Panther explains, "And it's probably the same for these Facades! I expect this guy won't go down easy!"

The last remaining shadow begins walking at a moderate pace towards us…!! He's wearing a military suit with all types of service badges, as well as a military hat, too. His skin, however, is inky black just like the other shadows, without any true facial features aside from wearing a mask. 

Though his sword is in one hand, his other draws a walkie-talkie. Shoot… that device must still function even after the EMP blast. We're cut off from the rest of our team, and I can already imagine this shadow is going to call for backup!

"And I can tell bullets won't work against him, either…" Hawkshaw boils with frustration, "I guess Jackpot and I dead weights here. Damn it all. Sorry…"

"No apologies necessary," Yusuke smiles slightly, "After all, _we_ were the ones tasked with protecting _you_."

\---(Music Fade)---

Yusuke opens the bus door and… leaps out? He meets the shadow about ten or so feet from the bus, and the shadow stops walking as Fox stands his ground. Oh no… is Fox going to fight that thing? "I don't suppose you'll let us simply leave if we attempt to drive away?" Fox questions his opponent.

"I hope that does not inconvenience you," the shadow returns with a very formal-sounding voice, with such an earnest tone that the sharp sarcasm underneath could almost go unnoticed.

"That's quite the katana you have there," Fox speaks with equal sarcasm to the shadow as if he were impressed, "At the risk of sounding cliche, I believe that makes me your opponent."

"Peculiar," the shadow answers back, with a voice sounding actually very refined. He raises his sword in a one-handed stance, prepared for battle, with the walkie-talkie still in his other hand and against his ear. "You infiltrate this base as a group yet you intend to face me alone?"

\---Music: [ Boss Battle - Persona 2: Innocent Sin (PSP) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb22li36dJg)\---

"Hell no!" Panther yells angrily… I didn't even notice her leave the bus, but she's running in a curved arc to circle around the shadow from the side! She's holding a long, red whip, and she slings it at the shadow with a loud crack! The surprise attack leaves a pretty nasty red cut against the side of the shadow's face, chipping off a piece of his mask near the edge. Nice work! 

Panther must have moved into an ideal range for her fighting style, because she is a safe distance from the shadow but a perfect distance for her to attack. She snaps her whip both fluidly and rapidly, with each strike flowing into the next, and getting quite a few hits on the shadow. 

Suddenly, her whip stops in place… the shadow grabbed her whip with his sword hand! With a mighty tug, he pulls her off of her feet and she flies towards him and the point of his blade, and he's poised to impale her! No!!!

Fox dashes just in time to parry the strike, crossing blades as Panther lands at least on her palms, softening what could have been a messy landing. Great save! The two swordsmen disengage slowly and carefully, stepping backwards a few paces while still facing one another. Fox re-sheaths his sword and, while still keeping eye contact, kneels over to help Panther to her feet.

Here come the reinforcements… a squad of soldiers quickly run down the ramp and onto this floor, spreading out from one another in an attempt to begin surrounding Panther and Fox. Before they can make much headway, Panther removes her mask and summons her Persona! It's in the form of a very regal woman with a cat mask in a flamenco dress. " **_PERSONA!!_ **" she calls out, and she spreads a raging fire in a line across the entire parking garage, blocking the oncoming soldiers from coming any closer. 

"How did you even know to come with your squad down here in the first place?!" Panther asks in frustration.

"My purpose is to protect the owner of this base," the shadow answers plainly, "If I hear any of the soldiers mention anything suspicious, I take no chances. That is my duty."

Fox has his hand on the hilt of his blade, as if he were a cowboy ready to quick-draw a gun. "What do I call you?" 

"I'm just a 'lieutenant,'" is the only response he gives. He points his katana downwards and makes a dragging motion just above the ground, as if he were drawing a line in the sand. 

I hear the noise of gunshots from the other side of the fire! The soldiers can't see over the roaring flames, but they're trying to blindly shoot through them! "Crap!" Panther grits her teeth, "Fox, I'll try and keep the soldiers busy. Can I leave this jerk to you?"

"If you two are finished with the idle chatter," the lieutenant speaks sardonically, "I imagine you are far more pressed for time than I. May I suggest we begin?"

Like two bolts of lightning colliding the two katana blades clash! Fox and the lieutenant both swing rapidly and with precision, each slash surely intending to finish the fight. However, on equal footing, each attack is either parried or dodged. 

As the two sword fighters duel, Panther continues having Carmen command flames in response to each movement from the enemy. Whether soldiers try to work their way around the wall of fire or try to muscle through it as fast as possible, they find that Panther's tommy gun isn't quite as easy to get past.

"Mr. Samurai, are you ok…?" Ghost asks, noticing that Samurai has his arms crossed and his eyes closed with furrowed brows.

"Don't worry, pal," Jackpot returns, "That's his thinking pose. He's trying to come up with a plan, I think…"

"We need an escape route," Samurai explains, his eyes still closed as he meditates and gathers his thoughts, "The outcome of this engagement won't matter if an entire base worth of soldiers surrounds us. I'm counting out the entrance we came in from, as I doubt we'd be able to cross that barricade again. We need a plan to get out of here…"

But, there's bad news, too… it's starting to become apparent Fox is losing ground. The lieutenant's sword motions start to blur in the air from the incredible speed, and it begins to function more like a buzzsaw than a sword. Fox is being forced to put all of his efforts into defending just to stay alive! This is bad!

" **_GOEMON!!_ **" Fox shouts, frantically pulling off his mask and summoning his Persona, a large and intimidating figure which resembles historic Japan in clothing and appearance. The spectral presence generates ice to frost over the lieutenant shadow's arms to slow down his strikes, which seems to be working ever so slightly!

"The one I've engaged wears a fox mask and tail," I can barely hear the lieutenant speak over the sounds of clashing blades. "Another wears the mask of a cat. The others have no masks."

Is he… is he talking on the radio while fighting one-handed? How crazy can this get?!

There is a voice talking back to the lieutenant, but there's no way for me to hear it clearly from this distance. Either way, the lieutenant responds and I still hear half of the conversation at least. "Yes, I said blue suit. Why does that concern you…?" the lieutenant continues talking with the walkie-talkie ever-present at the side of his head. "... Indeed, the blue-suited individual has spiked, black hair. Why?"

… Is he talking about… me? I have a bad feeling about this.

"Yes, the spiky haired one is with a girl in a purple dress, as well," the conversation continues. Now he's talking about Maya, too! I don't like this one bit!

"You're wide open!" Fox shouts, taking the smallest fraction of an advantage to launch a stunning counter strike, slicing diagonally across the shadow's chest. Using the brief interlude in combat, Fox has Goemon cast another spell. " **_Sukukaja!_ **" he commands, and he flashes with bright color. I think he just used the skill that increases his agility? It's hard to remember the names of these… 

The two fighters re-engage, but this time Fox matches the speed of his foe! The tables are turning! He's even able to slice a gash into the shadow's thigh, and a vertical strike splits the brim of the lieutenant's hat in two while barely missing the head underneath it!

"Understood. I will see it done," the lieutenant finishes speaking, putting away his walkie-talkie. With his hand now free, sparks of electricity begins to crackle at his fingertips, and soon a wave of electrical surges moves its way up his arm to his shoulder, across his body, down his sword arm, and into the steel of his blade! His speed increases to even more ridiculous levels as if his blade were moving at the speed of light! The swinging motions are so intense that the ice that has been formed sheds violently as chunks fly every which way, unable to prevent the sword arm from continuing the vicious assault. 

Even with his speed spell, Fox can barely keep up at this rate… "Ch…!!" he grits his teeth, "Damn you!"

Panther has the soldier situation under control, and she cautiously circles around the ongoing sword duel to return to the bus. She seems like she's panicking! "Damn it… that skill only lasts for a limited time… and he's still getting outmaneuvered in speed!" 

"If his buff runs out with the fight moving this quickly… no!" Mona cries out, "He's going to be shredded like confetti!"

"That shadow's arm is like a goddamn helicopter blade!" Hawkshaw spits in angry disbelief.

"And don't look now, but more soldiers are starting to come down the ramp!!" Ghost points, turning pale with fear seeing that Carmen's flames are dying out. "This is bad, this is really bad!"

Damn it… that speed is just too big of an advantage, we can't beat something that fast! What would Mia do, here…? Hmm… I have to figure out a way to turn this situation on its head… is it possible that much speed could be a DISadvantage?

"This is pissing me off, big time!" Panther grips her teeth, "I want to get out there and teach that bastard a lesson! But, with that insanely fast blade, I don't know if my whip would even last… it'd be suicide for me to bring a whip to a sword fight like that one! Argh!"

Hmm… "... Or would it?" I mumble softly.

*!*

I've caught Panther's curiosity. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Who here is the best driver?" I ask urgently.

Jackpot shrugs. "I'm pretty slick on the road, I've only been in an accident… er, once? Maybe…"

"Get behind the wheel and get us started up!" I instruct promptly.

*!*

"W-What?! We're not just going to leave Fox!!" Panther puts her foot down.

"Of course not!" I deny, "I have a plan! Panther, I think your whip is just what we need right now!"

"H-Huh?" she blinks.

"Look at how fast that shadow's arm is going!" I point out, "If you send your whip in there when he's not expecting it, with the speed his arm is going, it'll wrap his arm into a tangled mess! Then if you just hold on tight and we keep driving, bam! He's pulled off his feet and we'll drag him along the ground as we escape! That'll rough him up real well, too!"

"What do we do after that?!" Hawkshaw questions, eagerly awaiting a supposed next step.

"I, uh, figured we'd come up with a plan to deal with him from there after the fact…" I scratch the back of my head with embarrassment, since I hadn't thought that far ahead yet…

"Actually, I have a cool idea, myself!" Panther reveals, "I'll leapfrog off of your plan and take it from there, Knight!"

Jackpot struggles to climb over to get into the driver's seat, gets the engine going, and starts to rev it a few times. "Just give me the signal, Mr. Knight!" he announces dutifully.

\---(Music Fade Out)---

The shadow soldiers are already piling in with startling numbers, and they are getting close to a range where they may start firing on us… "It's now or never, **_floor it!!_ **" 

Jackpot steps on the gas with oppressing force, burning rubber as we rocket on a path that makes it clear we aren't going to stop. Though both combatants can clearly hear us approaching, nether can afford to be distracted from the sword duel for even an instant. Perfect for us!

\---Music: [ Last Surprise ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec4YbVP9R-A)\---

We blast forward on a path that will have us pass directly by the two of them. The back doors of the bus are opened, and Panther has her whip gripped tightly in anticipation. There's just a short moment of opportunity to time this out perfectly as we pass right by the shadow. I think Panther is more than confident enough to nail the timing.

"Time to wrap this up!" Panther smirks, snapping her lengthy whip right into the blitzing motions of the lieutenant's arms. Perfect timing, and a perfectly aimed strike! In an instant, his entire arm from his shoulder to his gripping hand is completely tangled by Panther's whip!! Hawkshaw and Samurai grab her tightly to prevent the force of the tug from pulling her out of the bus completely, and now the speed of our bus rips him off his feet. He's along for the ride, and we're dragging him painfully against the concrete. "Now, light him up, **_CARMEN!!_ **" she shouts, summoning her own Persona again. She blasts the lieutenant with a blaze of fire and immolates him!

"Jackpot, can you spin the car?!" Panther requests with urgency.

"On it, pal!" he responds promptly. 

Jackpot does fancy work with the driving controls and is able to floor a hard break while simultaneously swinging the car around 180 degrees to go back for Fox. The momentum from the quick turn pulls the lieutenant shadow along in an arc, and Panther swings him along, knocking over and taking out an entire wave of approaching shadow soldiers!! "And I came in like a wrecking ball!" she taunts with a grin and a wink! We cleared a path to the ramp off of this floor in the process; this is going great!!

"That was AWESOME, you guys!!!" Ghost cheers.

"I bet whatever you just did was super cool, Panther~!" Mona praises lovingly, "I just wish I could have seen it!"

"Quick, stop and let Fox catch up!!" Ninja calls to our driver.

Jackpot drives back just a short tad, enough for Fox to climb into the bus with the rest of us! Not wasting a single moment, Jackpot has reoriented the vehicle yet again and heads straight for the ramp to start ascending the levels of the parking garage.

"That was crazy cool how you two dueled that guy so well!" Ghost praises with cheer. 

He's completely out of breath, and drenched in sweat, and his response is segmented in between by heavy panting. "Haha… thank you… that was only… slightly more difficult… than cleaning… my brushes…"

\---(Music Fade Out)---

Suddenly, Samurai seems to have a revelation!

"I like the sound of that!" a giddy Ninja responds.

Samurai taps his forehead with his finger a few times. "I've managed to discover the perfect location for us to aim for. We can rendezvous with Joker's group AND make our escape from this blasted base. From there, it will simply be a matter of regrouping and restrategizing our approach."

As we finish climbing this ramp and reach the next floor up… 

*!*

\---Music: [ Battle Theme - Persona 2: Innocent Sin (PSP) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX1ZqSmxRe0)\---

It's like an army of shadows, all aiming guns at us! "No!" Mona shouts, "They have the whole floor occupied! We're surrounded!"

Samurai firmly grabs Jackpot's shoulder for emphasis to give very clear instructions. "We can't afford to stop moving for even one moment, or we'll all die! Keep your foot on the gas, and go through the enemy if you have to!"

Jackpot gulps and keeps moving. "Roger!" he affirms. Some of the shadows fire their weapons at us, but Jackpot's fancy moves are slick enough to avoid the majority of the bullets! We might make it out of here, yet!

"Wait… look!" Hawkshaw points out, and we all turn to see what he's drawing attention to.

The lieutenant, still being dragged along, has spun around and essentially done a few barrel rolls, snuffing out the flames which he had been afflicted with. By rapidly rotating his arm in what I assume is the opposite way of how he had gotten tangled in the first place, he's quickly free of Panther's whip, and we leave him in the dust as we zoom away. 

"Ha… glad to see that chump hit the bricks!" Jackpot chuckles with a big grin. However, he looks into his rear-view mirror, and seems shocked. "Bwhaaa?!"

Well, that sounds bad… I hesitate to turn back around to see what's behind us--

Oh, you've got to be kidding me… the lieutenant has sheathed his sword and is in a full, Olympian-style sprint… and he's catching up fast! Hawkshaw draws his gun and closes one of his eyes to aim right down the barrel. "I'm getting really sick of your ugly mug, time for you to beat it," Hawkshaw growls. Let's see this shadow deflect these bullets without his stupid sword out!

"Never you worry, gunman," he states in his slightly distorted voice, "I will be out of your hair, as they say, very shortly. However, before I take my leave..."

W-Wha--

One second he was a good distance behind us, the next he's blasting right at us like a missile, leaving a huge splash of surging electrical energy in his place. He must have used it to give himself a boost--!!

*!*

*!*

*!*

Now he's right in front of me!! Geeze, he's taller than I thought, and way more intimidating up close!! H-H-Hey, let go of me…!!

He pulls me dangerously close to his creepy, masked face, and looks me dead in the eyes, giving me a huge chill down my spine! "The general would like a word with you," he says to me directly! He spins me and pulls me to his chest, choking me with a strong headlock! Ack--!!

N-No! He's jumping backwards, and taking me with him out of the back of the bus!

"I won't let you!" Fox shouts, leaping forward towards us. In the same motion he draws his blade and slashes with it, lopping off the shadow's sword arm at the shoulder! However, he's sent away with a kick, and the lieutenant simply switches arms to grapple me with the other… oh man, oh geeze, what do I do?!

"NO!" Maya cries, jumping after us and grabbing onto me as I'm pulled from the bus, taking her with us!! By the time the lieutenant lands back onto the pavement, the bus is fairly far from us, and we're surrounded by armed shadows on all sides. Heck, the BUS is surrounded on all sides, too! The only way to get out of here is to keep pressing on, and run right over anything in the way. I think the rest of them know as well as I do that they're all goners if they stop to go back for us...

"WRIGHT!!! MAYA!!!" Edgeworth yells, reaching his arm out towards us helplessly as the bus drives further and further away.

I don't… feel so great. Bus driving away… head is spinning… feeling tingling all over like I've been shocked… can't move my body at all… think I'm blacking out…

\---(Music Fade Out)---

_To be continued..._

_Would you like to save your game?_

_Yes No_


	2. Chapter 9-2: Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Could things get any worse for Phoenix and Maya? Captured by the enemy, they are forced to meet with the violent shadow of Kaz Mizusawa, who is none too happy to see the ones who convicted him in court in the real world. Pushed to the very limit, and with their lives at stake, the two of them have to make a stand. And, just as Mia Fey would always say, it's when things are at their darkest that Phoenix and Maya need to show their brightest smiles. There's a special power within, and it is finally time to let that power out.

_April 13th, ??? pm_

_Fort Kaz (???)_

\---Music: [ Crawling [Infiltration] - Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqI5hRPetWA)\---

AH!!

I jolt awake as if someone had splashed a bucket of water on me. What happened? Where am I?? Did the others make it out ok?! Is Maya alright!?!?

Ghost is laying down as well, but she seems to be breathing… thank God. She must have passed out as well. 

After the initial shock and panic settle down, I observe my surroundings. We're… moving. I think we're in the truck bed of a military vehicle, which seems to be driving around the base. 

I also recognize that both of us have been put in handcuffs, too. That would mean...

Oh no, the lieutenant shadow is here too! He's sitting cross-legged, with… a drink can in his hand? He guzzles down its contents, bottom-up… but I'm not sure how he does it, since I don't see a mouth on him. Getting a good look at him, it looks like the previous battle did a heck of a number on him. There's a diagonal red scar mark going from his jawline to right under the eye-hole of his now-chipped mask. The brim of his hat is split in the middle, his clothes are both cut up and singed from fire, and he's missing his left arm completely. 

His voice still sounds hazy and distorted. I think Mona had mentioned that all shadows sound like this. "My apologies for having to shock you both," he says to me in a fairly neutral tone, "I just needed you to come with me without any complications. It should not have been any worse than a strong 'taser,' I've been told."

With his speaking patterns, he gives a strange impression. He has all of the vocal inflections and intonations of someone who would speak in an antiquated style, and the emphasis he just put on the word taser makes it sound like he isn't fully accustomed to using such a modern word.

Ghost moans a bit in discomfort, but her eyes open, and she leans up into a sitting position like the rest of us. "Knight … where are the others…?"

I don't know how to answer that. I suppose honesty is the best policy. "They probably knew that they had no choice but to keep going without us, otherwise we all would have been goners…"

"Do either of you like 'soda?'" the shadow asks us, as if to be friendly. "I had no knowledge of such a beverage before, but it is quite satisfying."

He tosses a can to each of us. Though in handcuffs, we have enough range of motion to catch the cans, and in theory to pop the tabs on said cans. It... seems to just be regular soda you'd find at any grocery store. Ghost and I look at each other, not sure how to react. After some thought, Ghost stretches her arm far away from her body as possible and prepares to open it. With hesitation as if she were trying to defuse a bomb, as well as a wince in response to the sharp noise, she cracks the can open harmlessly. As there's no apparent danger with the can, she takes a sip.

It seems he's legitimately just being hospitable. This shadow sure is strange with how he talks and behaves. "Why did you grab us, specifically?" I ask carefully.

"The general wishes to speak with you," is the answer, "Though I haven't the slightest notion of why."

Hmm… if he were truly a part of the cognition that is giving birth to this Facade, wouldn't he know everything the owner knows? That, on top of his strangeness, makes me think…

"You aren't a part of Mizusawa's cognition, are you?" I infer.

He seems somewhat surprised. "That would be correct. You have quite an eye for discerning something so subtle."

Looks like I was on the money. "What are you, then…?" 

"Just a shadow who would have preferred to stay minding his own business," he answers cryptically.

"I bet the Director put you here, didn't he?" Ghost suggests.

*!*

That's an interesting conclusion, and I want to hear more of what led her to it. "What makes you think that, Ghost?" I ask.

She takes a few chugs of soda before replying. "How else would he be in a leadership position with the soldiers, if he's not from this base? Not like anybody could have just waltzed into the base and been given a job leading the security force."

The lieutenant finishes off his drink. "You two are no ordinary individuals. That you should be in this place at all to begin with should have been my first clue to your remarkability. How much do you know of this 'Director?'"

"Hardly anything," I speak, which is truly an honest answer. But even if I had a better one, I would have kept it to myself, as this is still an enemy we are talking to.

"Regrettable," the shadow sighs, "I was hoping to learn more, myself. Irregardless, you two must be part of the 'Phantom Thieves' that so many were prattling about a measure of time prior. It must have been more than a year, at this point."

"When you say 'so many,' who do you mean?" I ask.

"Those of us who came from Mementos," he answers, which I suppose indirectly tells us where he came from as well.

"That's interesting…" Ghost remarks, "I wouldn't have expected shadows to have gossip or a social scene!"

"I suppose humans would indeed be surprised by such a revelation," the lieutenant chuckles, "I still have much to learn about how you Phantom Thieves are even able to interact with the world of thoughts, despite being human. I sense a strong potential in both of you, and my curiosity has been piqued."

"It's strange meeting someone so curious who is supposed to be our enemy," I comment, trying to get him to give even slightly more information as to why.

"What would make us judge one another as enemies?" he asks, "I do not even know the motivations for your being in this fort."

"This whole situation is just starting to make no sense to me…" I admit, "I think we got in over our heads here, Ghost."

"Maybe…" she seems to agree, "I can still hardly believe that this is real life. It felt like all of this was almost a dream at first."

"Are you two new to the world of thought?" the shadow asks, "Neither of you have attempted resistance, and I have noticed neither of the two of you have summoned any shadows of your own as your comrades did."

"Brand spankin' new, more like," Ghost answers, "This is our first time in the Metaverse!"

With his remaining arm, the shadow scratches his chin and eyes Maya carefully, in a way that's almost creepy. "Then the potential I feel in the two of you… is unrealized. How unfortunate."

\---(Music Fade Out)---

The truck that we're in slows to a stop, and the shadow stands up. "We've arrived. This way, if you please," he leads. 

I would like to at least know SOMETHING about what's going on, or at least our location. I'll ask, in hopes the shadow might cooperate with an answer. "Where are we, if you don't mind my asking?"

"The research labs," he answers plainly, "Though we were initially to reach the holding cells, the General insisted that you be brought to his location with haste."

The building seems rather large... I wonder what's being researched inside of a fort…?

Two guards escort us at our sides for security, and we enter.

_April 13th, ??? pm_

_Fort Kaz, Research Labs_

\---Music: [ Briefing Files [Level 2] - Metal Gear Solid ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjiwC0zGPnw)\---

The inside of this building looks very futuristic compared to the rather unremarkable exterior which matched the rest of the buildings in the base. It's almost like we're on the set of a sci-fi show. The walls, floors, and ceilings are metallic, and there's an echo to our steps as we walk.

In terms of aesthetic, this place feels more like a factory than a lab. There are miscellaneous metal parts in various locations, and a few vehicles are lined up off to the side. Perhaps this is where they research and assemble military vehicles?

There's a section that has large computer monitors taking up a sizable portion of the wall, and someone in full military regalia is standing with attentive posture at the screens, typing into a keyboard in front of him. He notices us approaching and turns his head to look, and it's clear that none of his actual face is exposed. His outfit is very… dark. He has dark and thick goggles, is wearing a black mask which obscures the bottom of his face completely, and has a combat helmet on covering up the rest of his head. He's even wearing gloves, so literally nothing about his actual physical person is discernible underneath his outfit. 

"You must be Kaz Mizusawa's shadow…" I comment.

"Well I'll be a blue-eyed polecat. It really IS you two," he comments. He takes a few measured steps forward towards me, and seems to eye me from head to toe. "Just WHAT exactly are you maggots doing in my base?"

I guess his shadow version talks like a drill instructor, like he did back when he was cornered in court a while back.

"What are you doing with the Director?" Ghost asks back, "Who are they? Why did you agree to signing a contract with them?"

"That information is on a 'mind your own damn business'-basis!" he returns with quite an aggressive pushback. "You all are some cheeky little bastards, thinking you can step foot in MY base. ESPECIALLY after all of that bullcrap you put me through in the courtroom! You've played me for a sap, you've dragged my name and my professional career through the dirt, and put me behind bars! I'm going to give you maggots one chance to explain yourselves, so you'd best start answering me. Your answers will be LOUD, and you will address me as SIR! Do I make myself clear?! Now, why are you in MY fort, and WHAT do you want with the Director?"

"We're here to find out what the Director wants with YOU," I answer back, "Clearly there's something deeper going on here if the Director left shadows in place to try and protect whatever operation you're running here."

"You think just because you're a fancy pants lawyer that you can just stick your nose wherever you feel like, is that it? If all you're going to do is answer MY questions by asking MORE questions, you're worthless to me, and I think I'll just have the two of you maggots killed."

OOF--!!

*!*

Good gravy… I'm coughing after how hard he just punched me in the stomach. I drop to my knees, struggling.

"Nick!" Ghost shouts, and runs to try and tackle Mizusawa. She's pushed back, and the guard behind her grabs her. As she struggles, Mizusawa punches her in the face!

*!*

"Leave her alone, you son of a bitch!" I shout, not even thinking of my own pain anymore. I stand back up and stare him down with fire in my eyes. I don't care if I'm in handcuffs or not, if he wants a fight, he'll get one! I kick the guard behind myself away, and start to charge!

A katana comes down in front of both of us and blocks my path to him. The lieutenant has drawn his blade and separates the two of us from starting a fight. "Discourse will remain civil until I decide otherwise."

I move over to Ghost. "Are you alright?!" I ask with a panicked tone.

"I'm ok," she nods, though her lip is bleeding...

"Just WHO do you think you are talking to with that tone, lieutenant?!" Mizusawa's shadow growls with authority.

"There was never anything in my contract about acknowledging your juvenile game of playing soldier," the shadow returns nonchalantly, but with some annoyance in his tone.

"So… you're under a contract, too?" I ask the one-armed shadow swordsman.

"I protect this palace out of duty--not of choice," he answers, and it sounds like he's telling the truth.

"That makes you even MORE out of line for talking back to your general, maggot!!" Mizusawa continues snarling, "The Director picked up your sorry ass from Mementos and put you here because you know how to swing a sword well! Do NOT forget that you are a NOBODY, both in and out of this palace!"

"Thus the terms loose and flexible," he returns, though he sounds more formal than snarky. "I'm to protect this palace; nothing more, and nothing less."

Wait… they both just said 'palace,' so they must not know… "Lieutenant, what exactly is your contract? Are you able to share the details of it?" I ask. I think I might be onto something, here…

"It is as I spoke," he replies.

"So it's short and to the point. Do you know the exact wording on the contract?" I press.

"It is but a single line," the lieutenant explains, preparing to quote it, "'You are to protect this palace from anyone seeking to tamper with it.'"

\---(Music End)---

"I think that you should know that we're not technically in a palace right now," I assert, "The phenomena causing this base to exist is fundamentally different from how a palace is created. There's no distorted treasure causing this place to exist. To my understanding, it only exists because of the power of these contracts that the Director is placing on people. We call a place like this a 'Facade,' not a palace."

*!*

The lieutenant seems surprised, as if such a revelation caught him off guard. "Heh," he laughs a single time. "Is that so. Very interesting."

It looks like I was able to find a loophole in such a barebones contract. I wonder what happens now… what will this lieutenant do?

\---Music: [ Blood of Villain ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvhEYbzToK4)\---

"What in the Sam Hill are you maggots on about?!" Mizusawa shouts, "I'm out of patience for this horse shit! You want civil discourse? Then let's take this to trial!" 

OOF!!

*!*

In one arm he puts me in a chokehold, and with his other hand he draws a pistol!

… *Gulp*.

He presses the gun against the side of my head painfully. "Feeling nostalgic yet? You have been accused of being the shithead who got me convicted in court and made me look like a fool!! How the hell do you plead, maggot?! You better plead for your life, if anything!!"

"Stop it!!" Ghost calls, and she begins sprinting towards us.

Mizusawa turns his aim towards Ghost.

*!*

The pistol goes off with an ear piercing bang!

"NOOOO!!!" I scream, struggling with all my might to get free, but this bastard's grip is just too tight, and I'm still in handcuffs…!!

Ghost holds her palm against her upper arm, and blood seems to be spilling downward and trickling down her sleeve… she doesn't scream, or shout, or say anything. Tears begin rolling down her face.

Oh my God… oh my God... he actually shot her… I can't even think straight… not Maya, please not Maya… this can't be happening…

"This ain't no toy gun anymore, kiddo! Stand the hell back and behave yourself, you're in court, remember, maggot?! Now, where was I…"

Ow! He jabs the gun against my head yet again… "I believe it's time for the judge to make his decision! I declare the defendant, maggot in the blue suit..."

\---Music: [ Awakening (Persona 5) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTQoFPmC7ZA)\---

Suddenly, I begin to hear a voice… it sounds familiar, I know I've heard this voice before. It feels like the voice echoes in the back of my head.

"Here we go again. Nothing at all has changed, is that it?" the voice begins, "Powerless to do anything, even here at death's door…"

I don't… know what's going on...

"Just what exactly do you plan to do when you do meet the foes you're destined to face? Just sit back and watch while the other Phantom Thieves do all the work while you stand around uselessly? And what of you if THEY fail? Surely YOU would fail as well, wouldn't you?!"

Is this voice… me? Am I thinking these things…?

"A no-good chump who can't do anything on her own! A dead weight dragging everyone else down! Is this the pathetic type of person you want to be? Is this the outcome you're going to allow? Or will you stand and fight?!"

I want to… I want to fight! But how…? Wait… did that voice say 'her?'

"Fight! Now is your chance! Show them all what you are capable of! Prove to your clan that their journey to the west wasn't in vain!!!"

*!*

Wait… clan…?... Is this not… my voice…?

Mizusawa and I both turn to see Ghost with her head hung low as if she were despondent, blood dyeing her sleeve and dripping to the floor. Oh no, please tell me she's alright! For some reason, she has a hood obscuring the entirety of her upper face, and all I can see is her lips and below. The hood has magatama designs on each side of it… has her outfit always had a hood? No, I would have noticed by now…

Ghost… pulls her arms apart in opposite directions, snapping the links of her handcuffs completely! Whoa! How the heck did she do that?! She grabs the hood covering her head and begins tugging at it, but it seems to be stuck. She hobbles over into an awkward stance as she tries with all her might to remove the hood from her head.

By this point, the two guards in the room try to close in on her to get the situation under control, watch out, Ghost!

\---Music: [ Pursuit ~ Caught (Official Hard Rock Remix) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWWRoMlmeTA)\---

With the sound of a grisly tear, the hood rips off completely, taking her skin with it--her face is covered in blood!! She lifts her head up to the sky, and yells in pain!! But... almost instantly, the blood turns into blue flames. More blue flames rise up from the ground and begin spinning around her like a tornado! The two guards are forced to step back from the volatile flames as they surround Ghost!

Psyche-Lock chains appear around her, with a lock right over her heart. Suddenly, a figure begins to form, and the chains around Maya seem to be leading to shackles around the figure's wrists. There's… a Persona, floating behind her! It gives me the same chills as when I looked at Arsene! 

**_MAYA HAS A PERSONA???!!!!?!?!!???!_ **

The floating figure carries a staff in her hand, and wears an outfit of purple robes and spiritual paraphernalia very similar to Ghost's! The Persona has a hoop behind her coming out from one shoulder to the other, and the hoop has a number of glowing magatama around it as if it were a giant necklace floating behind her. 

"Now this is more like it," the Persona says to Ghost, "No more hesitation, no more lying to yourself! You are NOT useless! Show the world that you won't hold anyone back, least of all yourself! Show them your journey has only just begun!"

Ghost touches the Psyche-Lock on her heart, and the mechanism becomes undone and drops, freeing her both herself and her Persona from the chains entrapping them. The heavy lock and chains crash against the ground, unsettling dust into the air from the strong impact and their weight. The Persona spins around her staff stylishly and enters a combative stance. "Let's go then, **_Sanzang!!_ **" Ghost shouts aggressively. 

The two guard shadows draw their weapons and aim their guns at Ghost! In a graceful spinning motion, Sanzang twirls around with her staff held out. With her first rotation, she disarms both guards by knocking the guns right out of their hands! Spinning once more for a second 360, she lifts her pole up and clonks both of them in the head, knocking them both out!

Sanzang points her staff in our direction, and it stretches! It jets out all the way to where I am, and knocks the gun out of Mizusawa's hand, and then a flicking motion causes the pole to snap right into Mizusawa's face, sending him flying a short distance! The staff shortens back to its original length, and as Mizusawa crawls backwards in shock, and I'm able to escape! Running like the wind, I sprint to Ghost's side!

"I can't believe this!" I tell her in complete and total awe, "I can't even, wow! I mean, just… WOW!!"

Sanzang brings her staff down between my hands, and as if it were a knife, it cuts right through the handcuff chains and frees me as well!

The Persona touches the wound on Ghost's arm where she was shot, and light glows from where her palm touches Ghost's skin. She takes her hand off, and the wound seems to be healed underneath the torn and stained sleeve.

So, now we know that Sanzang knows healing magic to some extent. I was seriously worried. When she got shot… I just froze up. I don't know what I would do if… well, it's better not to think about things like that. Ghost is super capable and determined, just like I've always known her to be. But now I think she knows it herself, and this is her time to shine. 

\---Music: [ Quest Battle - Persona 2: Innocent Sin (PSP) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TQ_7OvzDUI)\---

The two shadow guards seem to melt into the floor in the form of black liquid. With an uncomfortable, squishy sounding noise, two new beings rise up from where the soldiers had lain with completely different forms! They look like monsters! I think Mona mentioned this… that shadows have true forms hidden behind their cognitive appearances.

One of them carries a giant. two-sided axe, and tries to go right for Maya's head with it! Sanzang blocks the attack with her staff, parrying the blow to the side at an awkward angle, and allowing her to reach one of her palms out to strike at the beast's wrists. The sudden, alarming strike causes it to drop its weapon, which she catches and immediately throws as a spinning projectile, piecing the monster's chest with such force that it flies backwards!

The other shadow has no weapons, and comes at Sanzang with a rush of punches. They are all deflected gracefully, and a short opening allows the Persona to jab her staff forward into the monster's solar-plexus, and a spinning pivot offers another strike in the form of an uppercut to the chin! It's launched into the air, and Sanzang's staff extends yet again at a diagonal angle to catch the shadow in midair. As if casting a fishing line, Sanzang pulls a mighty swing over her shoulder, carrying the monster with her, and slamming it down against the axe which is still protruding from the other shadow's chest! With the two totally impaling the two of them against opposite sides of the axe! They burst into black smoke and disappear completely!

Maya turns towards Mizusawa, pumping her fists downward with determination. In turn, her Persona holds one hand vertically in front of herself while her other arm keeps her staff at the ready, completing in a martial arts-style pose. 

That exchange of blows was so quick, Mizusawa's shadow hasn't even had the time to get back up from where he was knocked over. He scrambles to his feet, shaking in frustration. Black flames as if stained by heavy smoke begin steaming from the ground up around the shadow, and his entire aura feels frighteningly dangerous... "I will NOT let a pair of maggots dishonor this proud base!" Shadow Mizusawa shouts angrily, picking up his gun and aiming it at us... "If this is the way you want things to go, I'll gladly--"

OH NO!! Three bangs go off before he even finishes his sentence!! What a dirty trick! WATCH OUT, MAYA!!!

*!*

The lieutenant dashes in between us and Mizusawa! He spins his sword like a plane propeller, with such speed that it looks like a giant circle of motion. The soaring bullets are seemingly swallowed by the vortex, simply disappearing into thin air! When the spinning motion comes to an end, the lieutenant has his sword perfectly horizontal, parallel to the ground. Atop the sharp steel of the blade, all three bullets are balanced upright and lined up in a neat and even row, as if someone had meticulously stacked them perfectly. He angles his sword upward, and as it moves the bullets cleanly slide down the edge of the katana and into the palm of his hand where he grabs them. He then throws them to the ground where they scatter with metallic pattering noises.

" **_Insubordination!!_ **" Mizusawa cries furiously, "WHAT are you DOING, lieutenant?!"

The figure between us with the katana waves his hand dismissively. "Save your strength for putting your plans to action, you needn't bother with something so trivial. Allow me."

The shadow slowly turns and points his blade directly at Ghost with what feels like a strong intent, but not necessarily a violent one. "Come. Don't worry. The fox-masked one deprived me of my dominant arm. My off-hand should present a challenge far more fair to a novice."

"Hrng… very well. I expect a full report when this is over, do I make myself clear?!" Mizusawa commands, before he scampers away and runs deeper into the lab.

"Lieutenant, tell me," I call to him, "Now that you know this isn't actually a palace, does that void the terms of having to defend Mizusawa? Was I able to break your contract?"

"Underestimating the capabilities of the owner of this fortress will be the first step into a shallow grave," the shadow returns. "A more pressing inquiry is if you of little experience have what it takes to defeat this 'Facade.'"

"Only one way to find out!" Ghost responds with confidence. Sanzang spins her staff and begins attacking the shadow, who keeps up with her strikes enough to deflect them all. They lock into an intense battle of blows for a few moments, but Ghost seems to be getting exhausted. 

"Some advice, 'Ghost,'" the lieutenant speaks up, "I already observe that a heavy reliance on spiritual energy will tire a human with alarming rapidity. Do not keep your shadow-being out for extended lengths. Just as well as fighting with this new companion, you must learn to fight by yourself. Have you a weapon?"

After a few moments of catching her breath, Ghost picks up the lengthy chain that had fallen before when her Persona first appeared. It's the right size and length to be wielded, it seems! She spins the end with the Psyche-Lock on it around threateningly. "I guess I do now," Ghost nods. Whoa… a Psyche-Lock flail!

It evidently swings fast and packs a huge punch! She sends it in motion towards the shadow and nails him right in the face, shattering his mask completely! The lieutenant melts into a pool of black ink! Did she win…?

From the liquid, a new figure explodes out! It looks to be an honest-to-goodness ancient samurai in old fashioned Japanese robes, but with painted designs resembling lightning bolts around the fabric belt. I guess that explains why he uses a katana and speaks so formally.

As his left arm is missing, the sleeve hangs with nothing supporting it, and he uses his blade to sever the excess fabric at the shoulder. "Exceptional," he nods. "But now, adapt to this attack."

He comes at her with a series of strikes with his blade. By stretching a small section of the chain she holds and creating a strong tension, she is able to form a rather sturdy line of metal which is enough to block the oncoming sword. As she gets more accustomed to blocking, the speed of the shadow's attacks gradually builds.

As soon as an opportunity arises, Ghost capitalizes on it, pulling off her hood to summon her Persona. Sanzang extends her fighting staff under the lieutenant's armpit and pulls it up with strong force as if trying to flip with a spatula. The shadow is lifted from the ground and spun in the air until landing on his back.

"Hrrrrrnnnnngggg…. YAAAA!!" Ghost shouts as she spins her flail quickly, reels her stance back and then sends it crashing down for a powerful over-head smash as if the Psyche-Lock were a hammer! The Psyche-Lock hits him so hard that the ground underneath seems to dent and crack a bit. What a finisher!

\---Music: [ I'll Face Myself (P4) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV4BlAlrIlk)\---

Sanzang rescinds back into her and her hood appears over her head again. After all of that, she's pretty out of breath, and panting heavily. "Hmm… I wonder if this is how the Judge feels whenever he strikes his gavel," she jokes.

The heavy chain and flail in her hand drop to the ground with a crash. Ghost starts to wobble in place and almost falls to the side, but I catch her and lift her back to her feet. She looks pretty dazed. She takes a deep breath in, and blows a prolonged breath out. "From now on, I'm going to be out on the front lines! I'll help the others find the contract, and we'll fix this whole mess and solve this conspiracy!"

It's hard to not feel protective of her, after all we've been through. But I have to admit, now it feels like SHE'S the one who will do the protecting. "You were awesome out there," I praise.

She grins with both joy and confidence. "... Do you think sis was watching, Nick?"

"I know she was, and she always is," I smile. I give her some time to recuperate while keeping her held up. "Think you can stand?"

"Yeah… I should be fine!" she answers with her signature, peppy enthusiasm, and I ease up my grip as she regains her balance and footing.

\---(Music Fade Out)---

"Heh," the lieutenant laughs a single time again. 

*!*

\---Music: [ Investigation ~ Core 2001 ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zZHIDGghP8)\---

He gets back up on his feet, and we stand on guard. How he's so casually walking off taking so many beatings all day long is beyond me... but he sheaths his sword to the side of his waist. "The potential which I sensed… is growing splendidly."

He takes a few steps towards us, but I don't get the feeling of any aggression from him. We might be actually safe…? "You don't seem like you want to keep fighting," I point out, "I'm assuming the contract you were under was verbal, and now your contract really is broken. Am I right?"

"Indeed," he nods, "My thanks for the disruption of that accursed restriction. However, the scar it left is resentment towards this 'Director,' and it's a far deeper wound than a lost limb."

"Oh yeah… I'm sorry you had to get your arm chopped off," Ghost laments, "It feels super unfair, since you never wanted anything to do with this fight."

"It is hardly a fault of your own. I would also attribute the Director this sleight, as their scheming put us both where we were. Even still, you freed me from that contract, so I shall hold no ill grudges, and settle for 'calling it even.'"

"What are your plans now that you're free?" I ask.

"Leave this place and return to Mementos, as I have friends and allies surely in need of my help," he answers, "Though without my arm, I am nowhere near the strength I was. The likely result of trying to leave this base by force would be my own demise."

"Well, you want revenge against this Director, right?" Ghost realizes, "Why don't you work with us? Our whole goal is to stop all of the bad things the Director is doing!"

The shadow shakes his head. "With no intended offense, we shan't fair much better at an escape working in tandem, as you are quite exhausted yourself."

"I'm just throwing an idea at the wall here, but what if we head after Mizusawa and beat him?" I suggest.

"I don't know, Knight…" Ghost hesitates, "Mizusawa is bad news. Mona was telling us that any shadow strong enough to maintain a palace or a Facade has to be incredibly dangerous and powerful."

"You're probably right…" I snap my finger in frustration. However, I try to consider a different angle. 

\---Music: [ Logic and Tricks ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4mPHUWdgXY)\---

"Hey, as far as we know," I continue, "Mizusawa's shadow is still going to think the lieutenant is under contract. Who says we need to fight at all if we act as though we've been captured? The lieutenant can just move us around the base in plain sight and no one would question it!"

The shadow gives it a thought. "Such a ruse could very well prove effective, provided we have an explanation as to our destination if asked."

"We should meet up with the others!" Ghost puts forth, "That's about our only chance, anyway, right?"

"Though, they've already left the Facade like they were planning to do..." I recognize. "In fact, I HOPE they got out ok."

Ghost holds her chin. "Yeah, same here. But they'll definitely come back for us, right, Knight…?"

"I know they will," I agree, "So it's a matter of considering where it is they will look for us."

*!*

"Wait, that's obvious," I state, "If they think we've been captured, they'll head right to the prison block! They'd naturally expect us to be in a holding cell, as prisoners."

"I'm not so keen on hanging out in a prison cell, but you make a great point!" Ghost commends, and then turns to the one-armed swordsman. "So, Mr. Lieutenant, are you with us?"

"I'm certain you have realized that my name is not 'lieutenant,' much as I assume yours are neither 'Ghost' nor 'Knight,'" the shadow explains. "I am known to some as Raikou; to others, Yorimitsu. Either shall suffice."

"Well, it looks like we're in this together, Yorimitsu," I nod, "I'm Phoenix, and this is Maya."

He nods in return. "Then let us make haste. Don handcuffs, or the deception will not be believable. Have your shadow-being simply break the chains once more in an emergency. Otherwise, simply act the role of captives."

"Oh, by the way, the 'shadow-being' you mention, is actually called a 'Persona,'" Ghost explains, before giggling a bit. "Man, it's SO cool to be able to say that I have one, now!"

What a strange and exciting turn of events! I can still hardly believe that any of this is real. But, now isn't the time to get whimsical. We don't have the luxury of being able to, not when we are so deep into enemy territory. It feels good knowing that Yorimitsu is on our side, and that Maya has a Persona of her very own! Though things may seem to be at their worst, I already feel like I'll be able to show my biggest smile knowing we'll all get through this.

\---(Music Fade Out)---

_To be continued..._

\---Music: [ Jingle ~ That's All For Today](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f10LFrjzM30)\---

_Would you like to save your game?_

_Yes No_


	3. Chapter 9-3: Anansi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Phantom Thieves need to take a moment to seriously regroup upon realizing that two of their members have been capture by the enemy. In the heated state of confusion and stress, new information comes from a very unlikely place. It seems someone has posted a message on the Phan-Site which seems directed specifically to the Phantom Thieves themselves. Though cryptic and shrouded in careful word choice, it still becomes clear that someone out there knows exactly what is going on with their group. Not only that, but they seem to be suggesting advice hand-tailored to help the group of rebels on how to make their next move to get back inside the Facade and save their friends.
> 
> But how dependable is this information? Can they truly trust an enigmatic stranger with the fate of their operation...?

_April 13th, 5:10 pm_

_Outside Kaz Mizusawa's Office_

\---Music:[ Suspicion (P5)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_cAs1sD5-8)\---

"And even after we lit him on fire and dragged him across the pavement, he still kept going!" Ann explains, rounding out her explanation of the events that took place after we lost contact with the others. 

Kay seems to be getting cold shivers. "Not only was he still ok, but he was fast enough to catch up to the bus. Even getting his arm cut off didn't cause him to flinch! That's when he grabbed Phoenix and Maya…"

Ryuji kicks the air angrily. "Man! More of us should have stayed behind. This pisses me off. When I meet this chump, he better get ready to have his friggin' skull bashed in."

Haru tries to cheer us up. "On the bright side… when we have to face him again, he'll already be missing an arm. That should make him easier to defeat."

Yusuke seems remorseful. "If only he weren't holding Phoenix in front of him, I would have been able to land a more decisive strike… my apologies."

"What are you apologizing for?" detective Ritsu speaks out, patting Yusuke on the shoulder, "You took off the same arm that creep was using to hold his sword, so he must have been left-handed. Losing his dominant arm is a pretty big advantage to us!"

Kay seems to notice something up with Sae. "Miss Niijima, you look really distraught. Are you alright?"

Sure enough, Sae has a look on her face that seems just shy of physical pain. "I… I'm just worried, for all of you. I already knew that the Metaverse was dangerous. But it wasn't until now that my brain truly registered that all of you are truly putting yourselves in life-threatening situations. I don't know if I'm truly ok with knowing that now. And on top of that… I'm terrified for Phoenix and Maya."

"Well, we can't really back down now, pals!" Gumshoe asserts, "We can second guess ourselves all we want about this meta-stuff, but that needs to wait until AFTER we save Mr. Wright and Miss Maya!"

"I don't think we're in any shape to run back in, guns blazing…" Ann points out with regret.

\---(Music End)---

"Hey, kids," Sojiro announces, "I don't know if now is a good time, but I did bring curry and coffee. I remember you all mentioned that they help keep your spirits up, so I figured it would be useful to bring along."

"Oh, heck yeah!" Futaba cheers, "We can all regain our strength, and then head right back in! Thanks, Sojiro!"

He smiles and chuckles. "Don't mention it, I just wanted to do my part to help."

In short order, plates and cups are dispersed among us, and we use the hoods and trunks of the nearby cars as makeshift tables. We spend some time eating, but we keep it light and brisk without getting too settled.

Edgeworth is leaning against the side of the building. His arms are crossed, and his expression is even more cross.

"Are you going to eat anything, Mr. Edgeworth?" Kay asks.

\---Music: [ Investigation ~ Middle 2011 ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86MKu29MWwg)\---

"Never mind me," he sighs, "I'd just prefer this tailgate gathering be concluded swiftly. We don't know if the general of this base will keep Wright and Maya alive, or for how long…"

Detective Gumshoe gulps. "I'm… with Mr. Edgeworth on this one. I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if anything were to happen to them."

"As much as I'd like to barge right back in there," Ritsu expresses, "Unfortunately, we're not the ones doing the fighting. We need to make sure the heavy lifters are able to rest up before we'll even stand a chance in there."

"We also have to consider that we have absolutely no game plan," I speak up with the harshness of reality weighing down my words, "We don't know what kind of danger they are in, we don't have a clue where in the compound they'd be--hell, we don't even know how we're going to get back into the base. The whole place must be on high alert, and the front entrance isn't an option anymore."

"I know things got hectic in the warehouse pretty quickly," Makoto recalls, "Did you actually have a chance to get a good look at that fire escape map of the base, Akira…?"

I think back to the regrettably short window of time I had to glance it over. "Only a little bit. What confused me was, aside from the main entrances, there were plenty of marked locations on the map. The thing is, those locations were within the base… like, they were marked locations within buildings or in other odd ended locations other than the actual perimeter wall."

"Those don't sound like very effective escape plans if a fire were to happen," Ann notices, "Who would run inside a building if there's a fire? You'd be trapped."

"Maybe the map was marking bunkers to hide inside in the event of the base being bombed?" Haru suggests.

"That doesn't really help us at all at getting back into the base…" Futaba mentions with frustration.

"We don't even know if this base truly HAS any escape routes," Ritsu starts to doubt, "After all, this is just a made-up place in Mizusawa's head, right? It might not have 100% of the functions and features of a real life base. Isn't it possible that the guy just never thought about having escape routes for his base?"

"I guess it really would be a gamble even trying to find something that may not exist," Ann agrees.

"What are our alternatives, though?" Yusuke asks, "The only other way I could imagine entering the base again would be climbing the wall somehow."

Makoto shakes her head. "We'd probably get noticed, and we'd be sitting ducks waiting to be shot if they catch us while we're climbing."

"We could just use a grappling hook, that would allow us to scale it quickly!" Morgana suggests! "Though getting back down would take some time and would still be really dangerous…"

"Where the heck would we get a grappling hook from?" Ryuji questions.

"I have one!" Morgana explains with pride.

"... Since when?" I blink.

"I dunno. I guess I built it when I was in that jail cell in Kamoshida' Palace," he tries to think back.

"You mean to tell us you've had a grappling hook for the entire time any of us have known you and you never once told us about it?" Yusuke asks with a frown.

Morgana shrugs. "Nobody ever asked."

"Uh… that aside," I bounce back, "Wouldn't a grappling hook only work for one person, anyway? It would be kind of useless for group operations."

"Well, you could in theory fire it and then have everyone climb up it one by one…" Haru reasons, "Though, that just returns us to our original issue: we could easily be caught while going up or down the wall on either side."

We all sigh. We're more or less in the dark here on how to actually start this operation.

\---(Music End)---

"Hey, guys," Mishima grabs our attention, "Something strange happened on the Phan-Site just now. You might want to check this out."

He sets his laptop on the spoiler on the back of the rental car and angles it so that we can gather around and look at the screen.

\---Music: [ This Mysterious Feeling (P3) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v_4eCh1Klc)\---

"Someone posted a new thread in the messageboard section of the site, and they tagged @Admin to get my attention. The weird thing is, the whole post is in English, and the whole thread lit up like a wildfire with more posts. Looks like the western Phandom is really fired up right now. I know a lot of you are native speakers who will get the jist a lot faster than me, so could you sum up what's being said?"

"I've got this," Kay smiles, and she leans a little towards the screen to start looking it over. "Ok, so it looks like this person's username is 'Anansi.' They posted this…"

_"Hello. To whom this message may concern--and you will know who you are--I would like to offer up some friendly advice._

_If you find yourself standing at the base of a tree, troubled with how to surmount the challenge… climbing may not be the best option. Believe me--been there, done that, and not my brightest moment. My son will never let me live it down._

_Anyway…_

_If this tree has you stumped, consider this: every tree has 'routes' below, and they stretch much further than we see above the ground. And if your last attempt went south, why not try the other direction?_

_One last thing. You have more allies than you may think. Your friends are in good hands--er, hand, singular. Guess he only has one hand now. Life's a bitch like that sometimes. Still, when you see him, pass on a message for me. 'The story started to move,' are the magic words. He'll know what they mean._

_Oh, and one LAST last thing. Mr. Wildcard. I look forward to working with another who has been given the title of Trickster._

_Tagging @Admin since you seem chill and might help get the message spread faster."_

What… what. What? Trickster?!

"There's quite a lot of word play in there…" Ann comments.

"Can somebody explain the 'word play' part to me?" Ryuji asks, "I don't really speak enough English to get it."

Edgeworth has been looking over the message as well, and answers the question handily. "Well, 'base' can mean either the bottom of something, as in the case of a tree, but it is also the word for a military complex, just like the one we are infiltrating. 'Stumped' just seems to be another pun to further the tree metaphor. And lastly, a tree has roots growing through the ground, but they spelled it out as 'routes,' which is a separate word that means paths. I think they are telling us that there are underground routes that can be taken to enter the base, if we take his metaphor at face value. Lastly, they suggest the opposite of south, which is clearly north. To surmise, I believe they are telling us there is an underground route on the north side of the base that we can use to infiltrate the compound once more."

"This message is way too specific…" Makoto mumbles, "All of the word choices were really deliberate. It sounds like whoever this person is knows exactly what's going on." 

"They even mentioned someone with only one hand," Ann points out, "Would that be talking about the lieutenant…?"

"Are they saying that being captured by the lieutenant is being in 'good hands?!'" Ritsu spits in disbelief, "That son of a bitch almost killed us!"

"If there's anything about this message that I want to trust, it's that Phoenix and Maya are still ok…" Kay expresses with distant hope, masked by more present concern.

Yusuke draws attention to another point of interest. "At the end, they typed 'Mr. Wildcard.' Could they perhaps be speaking of you, Joker?"

"And what do they mean by 'Trickster?'" Gumshoe asks.

"I haven't the slightest," Edgeworth answers, "But judging the look on Akira's face right now, I imagine it is a word of particular importance. Am I correct?"

Ok, my surprise must be showing clearly. "Trickster… it's a word they use in the Velvet Room that I've told you all about. I was given the title of Trickster when I first awoke in that room, and I've been told several times that it takes the rebellious spirit of a 'Trickster' to oppose fate and save the world."

"Whoa… that's unreal!" Futaba practically shouts, "And this person is claiming they're also one of those?!"

"What do the comments say?" I further question.

"I'll give 'em a read," Kay continues, scrolling down on the screen to start looking them over one by one. "Ok, there's a ton. I'll sum them all up:"

\---(Music Pause)---

Mister_Chef_Wears_a_Helmet: wtf? lol are you ok bro?

YellowTurtle5: W-what does it mean

ShinyaShootsSimps: Think this might be a coded message or something? Maybe for the Phantom Thieves themselves?!

OrangeHog5: That would be pretty wild

Randy: Do you think the Phantom Thieves actually read these forums? 

Steve4Smash: they probably dont even speak english 

Twisted_Taka [Mod]: Of course they read these messages. The Phantom Thieves remain vigilant as heroes of justice to this day.

[BANNED USER]: HOT SINGLES IN YOUR AREA -> [DELETED]

Twisted_Taka [Mod]: SILENCE! Foolish spam bots.

Leisure-Suit-Laurice: did anyone get that link before it got removed?

**Admin**: kek

"Well," Ritsu sighs, "That was both an emotional roller coaster and a complete waste of time."

"At least Mishima got a chuckle out of it," Futaba recognizes from the post that the admin himself just made in response to all of this.

\---(Music Resume)---

"Mishima," I speak abruptly, "Can you see the IP address of who posted this? Where is this message coming from?"

"There… isn't one, believe it or not," he responds to me with a look of surprise.

"What the hell?" I question, with matching surprise.

"Like, I'm not talking 'using a VPN to spoof location,' I'm talking there IS no location. I can't find any geographical data at all. There's no IP addresses associated with the user, either. The message may as well have appeared out of thin air. This is really freaking weird, man."

Futaba seems to take issue with that assertion. "That doesn't make any sense… maybe they got into the messageboard software and hid their tracks? That'd require hacking the site, though, and I know you're no slouch when it comes to that sort of thing, so you'd probably have noticed if that had happened."

"What other explanation could there be?" Sae asks, "It had to come from somewhere."

Yusuke seems to give it some thought. "Given this person knew minute details of what has happened within the Facade, they are assuredly aware of the Metaverse. Could the message have come from there, perhaps…?"

*!*

"I dunno, man," Ryuji second guesses, "I remember that phones couldn't get signals and couldn't take pictures when we were in palaces. Does technology even work there?"

"As far as we know, using technology to communicate from the Metaverse should be impossible," I reason.

"I think the most important question here," Makoto raises another point, "Is whether or not this person is an ally, and if we should trust cryptic advice from a stranger on the internet..."

"Huh," Gumshoe scratches his head, "When you put it that way, pal…"

Morgana licks his paw anxiously a few times. "It just seems too convenient. Seriously; someone announces that they know our entire situation down to the smallest details? And not only that, but they have hand-tailored advice on how to help us? I find it hard to believe that an ally this convenient could actually exist."

"Conversely," Edgeworth steps in, "Would it not be similarly implausible that there could be an enemy just as savvy to our situation? To my understanding, your group has been successful in keeping your actions and movements secretive. If our foes are even aware of our involvement, period--much less keen to every minutia--I sincerely doubt they would have allowed us to progress this far."

"What if Mizusawa himself sent this message?" Gumshoe suggests, "It could be a trap set out for us!"

"I don't think so," Haru shakes her head, "A person isn't at all aware of what happens to their shadow or their cognition within the Metaverse, so the real Mizusawa would have no idea any of this is happening."

"What about the Shadow Mizusawa, though?" Gumshoe probes further.

"Like we said earlier," Morgana reiterates, "Communicating from the Metaverse is impossible. Even if he does know that we're coming back, there's no way for him to send a message about it."

"Ah… right. That makes sense, pal," Gumshoe nods.

"So we're back to square one," Ann remarks with a sigh, "We have no clue if this mystery messenger is on our side or not."

I look at the laptop screen and quickly skim the message once again, and try to process information before finally speaking up. "He wants us to pass on a message to the lieutenant. If we say these 'magic words' to him when we meet him, we may get some insight as to what's truly going on."

Morgana sits down next to me, with a pretty serious look. "We'd have to find him, first. And that requires getting into the base… which still leads us back to the question of whether or not to trust the advice of this internet poster."

This will be a tough decision. "If we can find this underground tunnel in the first place…"

"That alone is a pretty big 'if!'" Futaba declares, "How are we going to search the perimeter of an entire military base for secret, underground tunnels?! How do we even know they actually exist?"

Something clicks in my mind. "Actually, I think it's extremely likely they exist. Remember what I said about how the fire escape routes lead to locations seemingly in the middle of the base, nowhere near any actual exits? Running inside of buildings in the dead center of a base would be the last thing you'd want to do in a fire, or an emergency. You would want to get out of the base entirely, right? Suddenly that makes a lot more sense if we speculate this: what if the marked locations were the entrances to underground tunnels to escape the base?"

"That would be a reasonable assumption," Edgeworth concurs, "And if they are truly routes designed with escape in mind, I doubt they would be armed with any traps, as that would complicate or even jeopardize a hypothetical escape. And, once more I would reiterate, I don't think the enemy would even have the time or the intuition to prepare traps in the first place."

"That's great and all, but," Futaba interjects, "Where are these tunnels located? How deep underground are they? How could we possibly find them? All we know is that, allegedly, it'll be somewhere on the north side of the perimeter. The north wall is still a few kilometers long. Having to dig up a space that large would still take days--weeks, even! Do we even have a shovel?!"

\---(Music End)---

"You can leave that part to me!" detective Gumshoe speaks up with a smile on his face. 

\---Music: [ Dick Gumshoe ~ I Can Do It When It Counts, Pal! ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJQ_FmwmC-E)\---

He curls his arm upward and holds onto his bicep in a confident gesture that lets us know we can rely on him, "I've got a secret weapon just for a job like this!"

He unlocks the back of the car his team is renting, and he shuffles his arms around the cluttered trunk to search for something. "Aha!" Here we go!"

He pulls out a rounded, flat device with a short pole sticking out of it. The pole extends in segments into a much longer length, and the flat part pivots on a joint until it clicks into a firm position at an angle. 

*!*

"Hey, it's Gummy's metal detector!" Kay cheers as if seeing an old friend, "Any underground tunnel would have metal lining it for support!"

"That's perfect," Makoto smiles, "This makes the task so much easier."

"Yep!" the detective grins, "Like I told ya', pals: ol' Gumshoe has plenty of tools for the job! I bet we'll find the underground tunnel in no time."

"I think we've mulled over the situation enough," Morgana rallies, "So all that's left is to choose our plan. Do we risk searching for this tunnel and any potential traps that may be waiting, or do we try and find another way in? What's your call, leader?"

I'm feeling more and more confident about this. "Let's take the risk," I confirm. "I think I agree with Mr. Edgeworth that it seems unlikely that any foes would even know enough to prepare a trap. But, even if they do get the drop on us, at least we'll be prepared. I trust that we can face it head on and break right through. Our friends are counting on us. How is everyone feeling now?"

"I think we've all had our fill of refreshments," Haru smiles, "We should be more than ready."

"Time to get in there, rescue them, and wreck some shit!" Ryuji grins.

"And don't even consider telling us non-combatants to stay behind," Edgeworth states with blunt determination. "I won't rest until I see Wright and Maya safe."

Yusuke nods. "And this time we'll all stay together."

"Time is of the essence if we want to save those two before it's too late," Ritsu gulps. 

"Then let's get a move on!" Ann fist pumps with determination.

"Mishima," I speak up, "Please keep your eyes peeled on that thread, and on the site itself. Once we get back, let us know if anything new has happened."

"Roger that!" he salutes casually, "Though I would be doing that anyway even if you hadn't told me to, haha."

"I'll get Little Thief set up to start the Meta-Nav app again, give me a few moments," Kay explains, and immediately begins tinkering. "I guess once we've gone to a location in the Metaverse, the app saves that location. I just need to click the link, aaaaaand…"

\---(Music Fade Out)---

The familiar sensation of splashing into the Metaverse as if it were water signals to me that Kay's device is bringing us back into the Facade. Soon it'll be back to business, codenames and all.

_April 13th, 5:25 pm_

_Fort Kaz, Exterior_

\---Music: [ VR 'Remixed' Sneaking Mission (Metal Gear Solid 2) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccWGZa9JGS4)\---

"Hey," Ninja asks, "Why is it you guys change clothes into trendy outfits whenever you're in the Metaverse?"

"It's another cognition thing," Mona explains while stretching his limbs to get comfortable in his Metaverse form again, "These outfits conceptualize from what the wearer sees as a thief, and they represent a willingness to rebel against the cognition of the owner of the palace, or Facade."

"How come we don't change into them, then?" Hawkshaw questions.

It seems Mona may not actually have an answer to that one. "Hmm… good question! It probably has something to do with the self-realization necessary to summon a Persona."

"I wonder if we'll ever be able to summon Personas…" Ninja wonders, with eager stars in her eyes at the idea of it.

"Now THAT would be pretty badass," Skull nods in approval.

"Try to keep up, pals!" Jackpot shouts. He's already gotten to work carefully brushing the metal detector in rhythmic patterns, moving at a pace reasonable enough to accurately scan the ground but quick enough to have gotten some distance away from the group. "No time to waste, Mr. Wright and Miss Maya are counting on us!"

"He normally gives the impression of being a goofus," Oracle comments, "But he feels really dependable when push comes to shove."

"He cares quite a bit for those two," Samurai elaborates, with his tone seeming warmer than usual.

"C'mon, let's roll!" Ninja jumps in place, before skipping along to follow her friend.

"Alright, team. Let's go," I unite us, and we gather to tail Jackpot as he keeps on moving.

It's not long at all before we all hear the same noise of loud beeping. "Hey hey hey, I found somethin', pals!" Jackpot announces with excitement, "There's definitely metal down below here, and a lot of it."

Noir brings an important detail to our attention. "That's great, but… how exactly are we going to reach it?"

\---Music: [ Investigation ~ Opening 2009 ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsupWyc8myE)\---

"Try leaving that part to me," Mona asserts, "Stand back, everyone. **Zorro!** " 

His Persona manifests, marking his signature "Z" pattern in the air with the tip of his rapier. He then begins twirling the sword in small circles at an extremely fast rate, and we can all feel the wind in the area picking up. Soon, the weapon is surrounded by violent gales, and Zorro points the tip towards the ground. 

With a mighty stab, the Persona attacks the ground, pressing downwards with a strong pressure. The sound of the wind-circled blade against the ground produces sharp noise like an electric drill. Dirt and debris are dislodged and sent flying every which way as Mona's Persona bores deep into the ground, slowly but surely creating a hole directly downwards wide enough for a person to fit through.

Mona makes his way deeper and deeper, until finally a shrill noise of metal against metal screeches, and sparks are produced so brightly that it lights up a portion of the tunnel until Mona relents. "Yep, there's definitely a tunnel down here!" he calls to us, and he hops up against the walls of the hole to climb back out. "It's pretty solid metal, it must be reinforced. It has to be the ceiling to the escape tunnel. I don't know if I can drill through this to get inside of it, though…"

"I can probably handle this part," Panther steps up. We all keep our distance as she summons Carmen, and has her spew a stream of flames directly into the hole, engulfing it completely. "Let's just melt right through the steel."

"You all are so creative with how you use your powers and stuff," Jackpot remarks with awe.

"It's merely practice and experience," Fox smiles.

Mona crosses his arms with pride. "It's also that Panther is just gorgeous, AND smart… and funny, and spunky, and charming--"

"We get it, dude," Skull cuts him off.

We give Panther about a minute to really turn the heat up. By the time she is done, the metal below is heated so brightly that it makes the tunnel glow with a hazy orange. The superheated metal breaks down and falls in molten chunks, exposing the electrically-lite interior of the escape tunnel. The sound of the chunks of ground and metal hitting the floor cause echoes within the tunnel itself. "Alright, looks like we're in!" Oracle celebrates.

"I'll go first," Fox volunteers, "I'll have Goemon freeze the burning metal so that no one is harmed by it when we land."

He hops down into the hole. It's spacious enough to fit a person, but at the same time narrow enough that Fox can hold his feet and arms to the sides and slide down at a safe and comfortable speed.

"No time like the present!" Ninja follows along, jumping in after him while jokingly pantomiming as if she were jumping into water by holding her nose and puffing her cheeks.

\---(Music Fade Out)---

We each take turns entering in sequence. I make sure everyone else reaches the inside of the tunnel safely, myself being the last person to go.

Looks like this Anansi poster was telling the truth about the existence of a tunnel on the north side of the base, and it's indeed our way back in. I have so many questions, though… chiefly, who it was who sent that message, and how they possibly know about us and our operation. 

I feel an uneasy chill across my spine as I descend down the hole in the ground. It's an extremely uneasy thought, knowing that someone is keeping detailed tabs on us. But the fact that they called me by the name of "Wildcard," and that they even know the importance of the phrase "Trickster" at all… it leads me to a faint hope that we truly do have a knowledgeable and helpful ally out there somewhere.

_ACT NINE END._

\---Music:[ Victory](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjLWGyx4zoA) \---

_Would you like to save your game?_

_Yes No_


	4. Some News and Updates for Logic and Trickster!

Hello there, everyone. There are a few new developments that I would like to bring to your attention.

Firstly, we now have a Tv Tropes article for Logic and Trickster! It is still fairly basic, and it needs help getting off the ground. Please feel free to contribute in any way you can to improve the page!

It can be viewed here:

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/LogicAndTrickster

Logic and Trickster has its own Discord community server now! I really like the idea of bringing together fans of games and media in general, but the server also has a focus on promoting individual creative content as well. If you have any of your own fanfiction, art, games, music, or anything else, then this could be a great place to spread your exposure to others who may be interested in your projects. I hope that this server can be a place to make new friends and reach new audiences for your own work.

You can check it out here:

https://discord.com/invite/tCFSGQ3

If any of you have any ideas on how else we can branch out, I'm always open to suggestions, so just drop me a comment with your thoughts and opinions and I'll be sure to respond promptly.

That's all for the time being, but I hope that these new developments help to make being a part of this project even more enjoyable for you!

Expect regular chapters updates in the near future, and as always, thank you for enjoying the story!


	5. New Promo Image and Status Update

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, it won't be too much longer before I'll be in a position where I can start putting out updates for Logic and Trickster again. Thank you all very much for your patience, and your continuing support! To help tide you over a bit, I've put together a photo recreation of the action from Act 8, where the Phantom Thieves sneaked through the shadows to infiltrate Fort Kaz. I hope to do more promotional photography soon!


End file.
